The Queen Elizabeth II Bridge (here seen in evening light from PS Waverley, returning to Tower Pier from an excursion to Southend and Gravesend) was opened in 1991 by Her Majesty and at the time was the longest cable-stayed bridge in Europe and among the four longest in the world; the main span is 1,463 ft (450m) and the total length 9,237 ft (2.87km, 1¾ miles) and the roadway rises 211 ft (65m) above high water springs. It supplements the earlier Dartford Tunnel to link Junctions 1a and 31 of the M25 London orbital motorway, though the route over the bridge and through the tunnel (A282) is technically not part of the motorway.
Construction of the bridge began in 1988 and the consulting engineers were Sir William Halcrow & Partners. They were also involved in the Channel Tunnel rail link of 2003 (HS1) which passes under the river here, emerging on a viaduct beneath the northern approach to the bridge but above the approach to the road tunnel.